The present invention relates generally to the field of communications, and, more particularly, to navigation devices and systems.
The global positioning system (GPS) provides specially coded satellite signals that can be processed in a GPS receiver to enable the receiver to compute position, velocity and time. GPS technology may be utilized in wireless devices to obtain user location information. For example, GPS technology may enable rescue workers to navigate quickly to people who need emergency help. Unfortunately, for certain nonemergency applications that may benefit from location information, GPS technology may not provide the location accuracy that may be needed by these applications.
Embodiments of the present invention provide navigation devices, navigation systems, and methods of operating same. In some embodiments, a navigation system comprises a navigation device that communicates with a data processing system. The navigation device comprises one or more movement detectors that are configured to generate data that are indicative of movement of the navigation device, and a transmitter that is communicatively coupled to the one or more movement detectors. The transmitter is configured to transmit a signal that contains the movement data using a wireless communication protocol. The data processing system comprises a receiver that is responsive to the signal from the navigation device and a processor that is communicatively coupled to the receiver. The processor is programmed to process the data to compute a location, position and/or orientation of the navigation device.